The invention relates to the use of a nonwoven material as underlayer for a fabric covering seats intended for passenger transport by road, rail or air The invention also relates to the seat covering composed of a fabric with the said nonwoven material, adhesive bonded to it or not, as well as to the seat intended for passenger transport and provided with this covering.
By "nonwoven material" is understood what is normally called a nonwoven fabric, a nonwoven mat, or a felt.
In order to ensure the comfort of the user, a seat generally comprises: 1) a support ensuring the ergonomic comfort of the user of the seat; this support generally consists of dense foam, springs or bands; 2) a padding layer consisting of a foam less dense than that constituting the support (and optionally separated from the support by a separating film), and 3) a cover fabric. The padding layer and the cover fabric are responsible for the thermophysiological aspect of comfort.
A seat constructed in this manner has a particularly good insulating action, which entails perspiration on the part of the user. If this perspiration is not quickly evacuated, a disagreeable sensation of dampness results.
The insulating effect of the seat is principally due to the substantial thickness of dense foam constituting the support, the film separating the dense foam from the padding foam, and the closed character of the padding foam which encloses a multitude of air bubbles.
The evacuation of humidity due to perspiration on the part of the user is not possible through the thickness of the seat, because the block of foam constituting the support prevents the humidity from being carried away.
The humidity must therefore be eliminated either through the sides or by ventilation, that is to say by a pumping action due to movements and vibration.
The aim of the present invention is to make use of a nonwoven material as underlayer for the fabric covering a seat as replacement for the foam padding layer. It is a particular aim that the nonwoven material used in accordance with the invention should serve both as a padding layer and as a thermophysiological comfort layer.
More particularly, the present invention has the aim of using a nonwoven material which is capable of rapidly absorbing, in the contact zone between the user and the seat, the perspiration emanating from the user.
It is therefore the aim that the material used in accordance with the invention should, through its hydrophilic nature, be able to absorb the humidity rapidly before conveying it to the outside.
Another aim of the present invention is to use a nonwoven material capable of conveying the humidity in a direction parallel to the surface of the material.
The present invention also has the aim of using a nonwoven material permitting the evacuation of humidity by ventilation.
It is a particular aim that the material used in accordance with the invention should have characteristics of compressive strength and elasticity adequate for permitting the absorption, conveying and evacuation of humidity.